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user-inactivated  ·  3093 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: The Fall of Kunduz

The entirety of Afghanistan will follow suit. Those who remain only wait for the departure of the U.S. forces and the return of the Taliban. The ANA, and ANP would not have been able to retake Kunduz from the Taliban if they hadn't had air support from the U.S. Once we leave, they will be quick to disperse back to their towns just like the Iraqis did against ISIS. They simply do not value the sovereignty of their country in the way that is necessary in order to create a national army in any effective fashion. Most rural Afghans have never left their village, have no connection to the idea that they live in a country called Afghanistan, and simply want to live their life. Whether or not the Taliban is in control, or the Democratic Government has little effect on their lives, and the Taliban pays them to support their cause instead. It is a lost cause and we would be best to leave it now. But we can't, we would feel awful for the thousands of lives that we took, and lost.